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This scourge of industrially manufactured edible products is an international crisis. While their intake is especially elevated in developed countries, constituting more than half the average diet in nations like Britain and America, for example, UPFs are taking the place of natural ingredients in diets on every continent.

Recently, the world’s largest review on the dangers to well-being of UPFs was released. It alerted that such foods are subjecting millions of people to long-term harm, and demanded swift intervention. Previously in the year, a global fund for children revealed that more children around the world were obese than underweight for the first time, as unhealthy snacks dominates diets, with the steepest rises in developing nations.

Carlos Monteiro, an academic specializing in dietary health at the University of São Paulo, and one of the review's authors, says that businesses motivated by financial gain, not consumer preferences, are fueling the shift in eating patterns.

For parents, it can feel like the entire food system is working against them. “At times it feels like we have zero control over what we are putting on our kid’s plate,” says one mother from South Asia. We interviewed her and four other parents from internationally on the increasing difficulties and annoyances of ensuring a nutritious food regimen in the era of ultra-processing.

The Situation in Nepal: A Constant Craving for Sweets

Raising a child in the Himalayan nation today often feels like battling an uphill struggle, especially when it comes to food. I prepare meals at home as much as I can, but the instant my daughter leaves the house, she is encircled by brightly packaged snacks and sugary drinks. She continually yearns for cookies, chocolates and packaged fruit juices – products intensively promoted to children. A single pizza commercial on TV is enough for her to ask, “Are we getting pizza today?”

Even the educational setting encourages unhealthy habits. Her school lunchroom serves sugary juice every Tuesday, which she anxiously anticipates. She gets a small package of biscuits from a friend on the school bus and chocolates on birthdays, and encounters a french fry stand right outside her school gate.

At times it feels like the whole nutritional ecosystem is opposing parents who are simply trying to raise well-nourished kids.

As someone employed by the Nepal Non-Communicable Disease Alliance and heading a project called Advocating for Better School Diets, I grasp this issue profoundly. Yet even with my knowledge, keeping my young child healthy is extremely challenging.

These constant encounters at school, in transit and online make it almost unfeasible for parents to restrict ultra-processed foods. It is not only about what kids pick; it is about a nutritional framework that normalises and advocates for unhealthy eating.

And the statistics shows clearly what households such as my own are facing. A comprehensive population report found that over two-thirds of children between six and 23 months ate junk food, and a substantial portion were already drinking sugary drinks.

These figures are reflected in what I see every day. An analysis conducted in the area where I live reported that a notable percentage of schoolchildren were above a healthy size and 7.1% were obese, figures directly linked with the increase in processed food intake and less active lifestyles. Additional analysis showed that many Nepali children eat candy or processed savoury foods on a regular basis, and this frequent intake is tied to high levels of oral health problems.

The country urgently needs more robust regulations, healthier school environments and stricter marketing regulations. Before that happens, families will continue fighting a daily battle against processed items – an individual snack bag at a time.

Caribbean Challenges: When Fast Food Becomes the Default

My position is a bit unique as I was had to evacuate from an island in our archipelago that was ravaged by a major hurricane last year. But it is also part of the harsh truth that is affecting parents in a area that is experiencing the very worst effects of global warming.

“The circumstances definitely worsens if a hurricane or volcanic eruption eliminates most of your plant life.”

Before the occurrence of the storm, as a dietary educator, I was deeply concerned about the rising expansion of quick-service eateries. Today, even local corner stores are participating in the transformation of a country once characterized by a diet of healthy locally grown fruits and vegetables, to one where greasy, salty, sugary fast food, full of artificial ingredients, is the favorite.

But the situation definitely deteriorates if a hurricane or geological event decimates most of your vegetation. Fresh, healthy food becomes rare and extremely pricey, so it is really difficult to get your kids to consume healthy meals.

In spite of having a stable employment I wince at food prices now and have often resorted to selecting from items such as peas and beans and animal products when feeding my four children. Offering reduced portions or smaller servings have also become part of the recovery survival methods.

Also it is rather simple when you are juggling a challenging career with parenting, and scrambling in the morning, to just give the children a small amount of cash to buy snacks at school. Sadly, most campus food stalls only offer manufactured munchies and sweet fizzy drinks. The result of these challenges, I fear, is an rise in the already widespread prevalence of non-communicable illnesses such as type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

Uganda: ‘It’s in Every Mall and Every Market’

The sign of a global fast-food brand towers conspicuously at the entrance of a mall in a Kampala neighbourhood, challenging you to pass by without stopping at the quick service lane.

Many of the youngsters and guardians visiting the mall have never ventured outside the borders of the country. They certainly don’t know about the historical economic crisis that inspired the founder to start one of the first American international food chains. All they know is that the brand name represent all things modern.

In every mall and all local bazaars, there is fast food for every pocket. As one of the more expensive options, the fried chicken chain is considered a treat. It is the place Kampala’s families go to celebrate birthdays and baptisms. It is the children’s prize when they get a good school report. In fact, they are hoping their parents take them there for festive celebrations.

“Mum, do you know that some people pack takeaway for school lunch,” my 14-year-old daughter, who attends a school in the area, tells me. She says that on the days they do not pack that, they pack food from a popular east African fast-food chain selling everything from fried breakfasts to burgers.

It is the end of the week, and I am only {half-listening|